1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an in-net printing system and a method of an in-net printing. More particularly, the present invention relates to an in-net printing system for outputting data on a network to a printer, and a method of a charging type in-net printing.
2. Description of the Related Art
A technique is well known for printing data on a network onto an indicated network printer. It is the technique in which the network printer shared by a plurality of computers receives a printing job from one of the computers and then prints it. The Internet is known as the network. The data on the Internet is outputted and printed by the printer in accordance with an instruction from the computer.
Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 10-207657) discloses a technique of a network correspondence printer, a network correspondence printing system and a network printing system. The network printing system according to this technique includes a host computer and a printer. The host computer indicates the particular data of a data resource accumulated in a server on the network. The printer is connected to the data resource of the particular data indicated by the host computer, and it receives and prints the data resource. The feature thereof lies in the configuration including a print controller, a particular data register, a network controller, a data judging unit, a network retrieving unit, a conversion requesting unit and a data returning unit.
Here, the printer instructs a printing operation by controlling a print engine on the basis of an input data. The particular data register registers the particular data of the data resource indicated by the host computer. The network controller is connected through a network connecting unit to the registered data resource, and it receives the data resource. The data judging unit judges whether or not the received data resource is composed of a data that can be printed by the print controller. If the data judging unit judges that it is not the printable data, the network retrieving unit retrieves a conversion program for converting the received data resource into the printable data, through the network connecting unit. The conversion requesting unit transfers the received data resource to a converter having the retrieved conversion program, and the converter converts the received data resource into the printable data. The data returning unit returns the printable data converted by the converter, to the print controller.
In this system, without receiving all the instructions from the computer, the printer actively prints the data on the Internet. In such known printing system, the printer retrieves the print conversion program, participates in the printing operation positively and actively, and needs a high computer function.
Japanese Laid Open Patent Application (JP-A-Heisei 10-49607) discloses a technique of an ordering/receiving management system. The ordering/receiving management system according to this technique has an ordering terminal unit and a receiving terminal unit. The ordering terminal unit contains a touch type input unit, a display, a memory and a transmitter. Here, the touch type input unit inputs the data such as a name of an article, a number, a unit, an order source and the like. The display displays at least a part of the input data. The memory stores the data. The transmitter transmits the data through a public line to the receiving terminal unit. The transmitter further has an AND circuit for allowing the transmission of the input data only if the name of the article, the number and the unit are inputted.
The enlargement of a usage range in a portable terminal has been advanced. As an example of the enlargement of the usage range, it is requested that a portable terminal instructs a printer to output the data read on a network by using the portable terminal to a printer and print it. The portable terminal does not have a mechanical function that is physically large such as a printing function. Thus, the portable terminal instructs the printer to execute the printing operation. When the portable terminal is assembled onto a network to then establish a system for instructing the printer to print the data on the network, it is required to provide a further conventional service to a user.
It is required to improve the service of the system for instructing the printer to print the data on the network from the portable terminal having no physically large device. Moreover, it is required to provide the service without any burden on the printer. In such service, the improvement of the service is desired from the viewpoint of an charging system.